A recent article in the New York Times described a number of research studies on “gifted word learning” dogs that can associate spoken words with objects, sometimes after very little exposure to the object. But what about cats? Do they learn language in a similar way?

In this blogpost, I’ll explore what science tells us about how cats understand human language, how this differs from dogs, and whether it’s possible to teach your cat words.

How Dogs Learn Words

Dogs have been selectively bred to work closely with humans. Whether it’s hunting, herding livestock or performing search-and-rescue, dogs that could understand human language had a clear advantage when performing those tasks.

Research shows that some dogs, classified as “gifted word learners,” can learn and remember dozens of words when rewards are used as part of the learning process. At least one canine gifted word learner appears to have used “fast mapping” to learn new words. Fast mapping is a cognitive process in which a new word is learned after only minimal exposure to that word.

Do Cats Understand Human Language?

Unlike dogs, cats have not been selectively bred for human-directed tasks. In fact, cats may have self-domesticated, cohabitating with humans in ancient agricultural communities in order to prey on rodents attracted to grain and food scraps. Because of this, understanding human language might not have been critical to feline survival like it appears to have been in dogs.

Despite the lack of evolutionary pressure on feline language skills, research shows that cats do understand aspects of human language, particularly when it’s socially or emotionally relevant.

Cats Recognize Names and Voices

Based on research in feline cognition from Japan, cats can discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar voices and match the voice of their owner to a computer image of that person. I know this to be true with the foster kittens I raise. The kittens become very vocal when I come into the room compared to the arrival of unfamiliar visitors.

Cats also recognize their name, even when spoken by strangers, and can differentiate it from other nouns.

In multi-cat households, cats can also recognize the names of other cats in the household.

Interestingly, cats seem to learn names passively, through observation rather than by active training or human reinforcement.

Cats Have Emotional Language

Another way cats may have adapted when they began cohabitating with people is the development of emotional language. Vocalizations like purring and hissing function as emotional signals, similar to human expressions of happiness and anger.

In a study of Italian cats shown recordings and images of purring and hissing cats and happy and angry humans, cats exhibited different responses. Hissing and angry expressions produced stress responses in cats, suggesting they perceived these as threatening. In contrast, happy expressions did not induce stress, indicating cats may recognize human emotional states.

Can Cats Learn New Words?

Given the evidence that cats recognize names and emotional cues, can you teach words to your cat?

A recent study suggest you can. In this research, cats were shown meaningless images paired with nonsense words multiple times. When the image or word was later switched, cats detected the mismatch—suggesting they had formed an association between the word and the image. This finding indicates that cats may be capable of fast mapping, similar to dogs and human children.

How to Teach Your Cat Words

Since cats are believed to be able to fast map, teaching them words may be possible with the right approach. For instance, try:

Saying the word clearly while showing the object

Pairing learning with a reward (such as treats or play)

Focusing on words that are meaningful to your cat, like names

While cats may not learn vocabulary as readily or extensively as dogs, research suggests they are far more linguistically aware than we once believed.